Rubber footwear



ma 15, 1923. 1,455,1m

T.-'"E. LA FAYETTE ET AL.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR Filed Dec. 50 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 15, 1923. msmw T. E. LAFAYETTE ET AL RUBBER FOOTWEAR Filed Dec. 30. 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 T/Zndom lf A 62k, a Jib/24in 6wuyhan Patented ay l5, l2;

' insane r in sane,

THEODORE n. LA FAYETTE, ALFRED A. cnrnnnn, AND JOHN J. GAUG, or wATna- Town, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS To noon RUBBER COMPANY, or wA'rnnTown', MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or MASSACHUSETTS.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

Application filed December 30, 1920. Serial No. 434,042.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THEODORE E. LA FAYETTE, ALFRED A. GLIDDEN, and JOHN J. GAUGHAN, citizens of the United States, and residents of VVatertown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rubber Footwear, of which the following is a specification. Our present invention relates to improvements in rubber footwear, and aims to simplify the construction and reduce the number of parts thereby effecting a saving of merchandise and the labor required in the making of the article. )Ve have further aimed to produce a construction of great flexibility and elasticity whereby overshoes embodying our invention will have agreater range of adaptability to shoes of difierent sizes, enabling'the manufacture of half sizes and many widths to be eliminated, and we have also aimed to provide a construction which will notbe liable to open up and leak at the edge of the sole.

We have in the present application selected the foot-hold type of overshoe to illustrate an embodiment of our invention although it will be understood that we do not limit ourselves in this respect, the main featuresof the invention being applicable to any type or style of rubber footwear.

In foot-holds as heretofore manufactured it has been customary to build these up I Y ber cement on a last from a considerable number of pieces. These include the following parts,

(1) an upper lining, (2) a gum upper or covering, (3) an insole stay, (4) aheel piece or strap, (5) a toe piece or tip, (6) an outsole stay, (7) a sole filler, (8) an insole and (9) an outer sole. These are applied successively by hand and rolled down by a squeegee or pressing. roller, the usual method being to place the insole on the last bottom,

-, stretch the lining snugly over the last and secure its edge adhesively to the insole,

apply the filler,- coat the lining with a ruband then apply the gum upper or covering, whereai'ter the out-sole, toe, tip, and strap are individually applied, the parts as they are successively applied being rolled down or pressed together and against the last by a hand roller to secure firm adherence and a. smooth'exterior surface.

This requires a large number of distinct operations and the use of parts which it is one of the objects of the present invention to materially reduce.

Furthermore, in such a shoe all the parts on at or near the edges of the sole in a distinct corner which must accurately, fit the sole of the shoe upon which the overshoe is worn, therefore elasticity or stretchability in the soles of such overshoes is undesirable, and there is always a tendency of cracking or breakingof the overshoes at the joints. which objection is eliminated by the present invention. I

With these and other objects in view which will hereinafter appear, our invention includes the novel article as hereinafter described and particularly defined by the appended claims.

An embodiment of our invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of the upper blank.

Figure 2 is a similar view of thefiller blank.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a section of the binding strip. I

Figure 4; is a plan view of the sole and heel strap blank and Figure 5 is a similar view of the toe cap.

F gure 6- is a side elevation of the assem bled parts in place upon a last.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the foot-hold removed from the last, and a Figure 8 is a transverse section looking towards the toe.

In making up a foot-hold according to our present invention we use but five parts of pieces as shown in the figures of sheet 1 of the drawin The part 1 is of elastic fabric coated with rubber gum and may be cut to the desired shape, such as shown for example in Fig. 1, by a cutting die, the shapebeing such that when its edges 1 are joined in a suitable manner a pocketed construction, Soto speak, is formed, which is then drawn upon a last 6, the seam formed by the joined edges lying centrally of the bottom or the last.

The elastic fabric may be of any suitable nature, such for example, as stockinette,

knitted fabric or a Specially woven elastic smoothed out in any suitable manner as I 4 conformin indicated at a in Fig. 8. If desired the seam orjunction may be at any location other than that indicated in Figures 7 and 8.

The portions of-the upper which extend nderneath the bottom of the last, constitute in effect an inner sole, to which is applied the filler, indicated at 2, the filler adhering to the unvulcanized rubber surface so that no cement is necessary.

From a sheet of stock, run on an engraved calender roll to ive to one side a beaded or otherwise suitab y configured surface, we cut, by a suitable die, a blank of the shape shown in Figure 4, having a front portion to the-sole ofthe last and having a wi ened out rear portion 4 proat 5 in Figures 6 and 7.

vided with a central opening 42- The portion of the blank around this openlng constitutes the back or heel strap WhlCh is designated at 4, (Figs. 6 and 7), the ed es of which are preferably folded or curle over as indicated at a? to give a finished effect. If preferred, the calender roll can be so engraved that a head will be formed atthe.

edges of the strip thereby avoidin the necessity of folding or curlln over t e edges. The toe cap is next app ied as indicated The smooth side of the sole is applied to the bottom of the last and pressed firmly against, the filler and upper, the edge of the sole being preferably carried slightly up over the sides, as shown, and the strap portion stretched or carried up over the heel portion of the last in proper'position,

substantially eliptical central opening,

only effect a saving in merchandise cost and reduce the number of labor operations in building up the shoe as will becapparent from the foregoing, but effect a corresponding reduction in the preparatory manufacturing processes, which effects a material saving in labor.

Furthermore, the shoe process is free from the oints and sharp corners at the edges of the sole and is stretchable thereby enabling us to eliminate half sizes and widths and yet secure effective fits.

While we have selected a foot-hold as a convenient and desirable embodiment of our be understood that, in

produced by our invention it should its broader aspects, type of shoe, .being ap licable to any type of rubber footwear, and where in this specification, we use the term rubber shoe it is to be understood. as inclusive of any article of footwear composed of fabric and rubber compounds.

Having. thus described our invention what we claim is:

An article for forming the upper and heel strap of a rubber overshoe of the foot-' hold type comprising a blank of fabric of shape having a widened-out rear portion provided with a the rear edge of the blank being substantially concentric to the rear edge of said opening.

In testimony whereof, we aiiix our signatures.

ALFRED A. GLIDDENQ THEODORE E. LA FAYETTE. JOHN J; GAUGHAN.

it is not limited to this 

